Who (Doesn’t) Run The World? Girls.

Only 20% of political leaders in the world are women. Women leaders are under-represented in every country, from Nepal, where my organization works, to the United States, where only 17% of Congress is female. In 2010, I co-founded a leadership development organization for young women in Kathmandu, Nepal, because I strongly believe that the lack of female leaders is one of the most enduring forms of inequality in the 21st century.

Women are absent in corporate boardrooms, parliaments, peace negotiating tables and almost all major institutions around the world. For every Hillary Clinton and Marissa Mayer, there are thousands of women who do not break the glass ceiling.

While women are shut out of the institutions of power, they often face the brunt of poverty and violence. In Nepal, 1/3 …

To Educate A Girl

I’ve often wondered if those who are provided with less, make more with what they are given. A few weeks ago, I went to a screening of a documentary called To Educate A Girl, and was convinced once again of the life-changing importance of education for girls and women. More importantly, I also realized the incredible drive to learn that permeates communities where girls are not given such opportunities.

Filmmakers Frederick Rendina and Oren Rudavsky focused on the factors that inhibit girls around the world from getting an adequate education, through chronicling the stories of several girls in Uganda and Nepal, two countries emerging from violent civil wars.

To Educate a Girl begins with Manisha, a daughter of a brick-carrier in Nepal, who has been unable to attend school …

Pride and Prejudice: A Firsthand Account of Literary Sexism

Books: not for guys, apparently

Flashback: It is the first week of 11th Grade. Having gone to the same school since kindergarten, I have no need for first day back-jitters or thinking what to wear to impress my peers. I wear what I like and that usually ends up being some lurid mod dress I bought at a thrift store because I enjoy wearing happy clothes when I seem endlessly angsty.

There is a new kid in our grade. Let’s call him Andrew. I do not make any effort to talk to him because, honestly, I generally don’t talk to people outside of the small set of friends that I already have. Perhaps this is due to my aspirations as a fashion journalist or the fact that growing up an …

Saturday Vids: Educate Girls in Malawi

Help Educate Girls In Malawi!

Statistically, according to UNESCO’s 2005 Education For All monitoring report, only 31% of adult women can read and write in Malawi. This is shocking when compared to men – 80% of whom are literate. Kasungu district in Malawi, where the Join My Village project is taking place is no exception in terms of prioritizing boys when it comes to education. Kasungu is among the top list of districts where literacy levels are very low in women.

Once educated, a girl child is more capable of helping the greater family as she is the one that spends more time with them and so can act as a good mentor. An educated girl can easily manage to start a small business that can help the family financially. …

Effects of Feminism Not Reachable to All Indian Women?

Recently Indian newspapers have been flooded with reports about the Dar-ul-Uloom?s (an Islamic school propagating Sunni Islam in India) fatwa stating that it is un-Islamic for women to work with men. Yet again we appear to be at the crossroads: having to choose between antiquated traditions and moving forward into a society where men and women are accorded with the same level of respect and treated as equals.

As Indian society is relaxing its earlier rigid views about women and their position in society and allowing them to go out and work in cities, the Muslim clerics are adamant about regressing back in time and making sure that the benefits of feminism and society?’s more liberal attitude towards women aren?t passed on to Indian Muslim women.

Before we start shedding tears for our disadvantaged brothers and sons, let’s take a look at the indicators of such a disparity. The author points to a recent New York Times article that notes girls make up – are you ready?– 56% of kindergarteners in gifted programs in NYC. Clearly, there is some kind of mastermind behind this giant conspiracy to rid the world of educated men. And while the article does state that some programs have as many as 3/5 girls, it also admits …